Turn 3: God of Madness
(did I seriously just get the shining trapezohedron on turn 2? Wow.)
"To some degree, yes. But it's like a passing glance at a celebrity." he says in response before the split second glimpse at things beyond his full understanding. He shakes his head vigorously after that, trying not to think on it too much.
"Well, Regardless, things seem to be turning interesting. Do lead on, sir."
follow them. It's not often that you get to meet a person like this at all.
[6] - You quickly follow after the man. You tire yourself a little, but manage to catch up with him pretty quickly in the middle of a strange hallway filled with various doors. For a moment, you have the feeling that you forgot something, but then you are distracted by the stream of people constantly moving, entering and exiting through the various doors.
"A celebrity? Hmmm, I expected you to react quite differently. I can see why "he" has taken interest on you, of all people."
Follow the man? in the suit. Rack my knowledge of the supernatural for any creatures that fit what I know about him. Pay special attention to any stories focusing on madness.
Speak to Antioch: "Are you ok?"
[3] - You believe he might be what you call a "lawyer". Terrible beings that feed on the souls of human beings. They wear human skins to hide their hideous appearance and serve as the messagers of the devil himself.
...Nah, he doesn't have a briefcase. He's safe.
Looks like the best way to find out what's going on is to follow this guy
said Ryan.
Follow the Man in Black. Check for anything else unusual
Also, I know he's a black man in a black suit, but black text? Some of us use darkling y'know
[5] - You find an interesting tome with a black cover. You search the first pages for a title...
"Liber Ivonis"
Knowledge roll: [4]
You recall that this book is the mythical arcane tome also known as "The Book of Eibon", said to be written by a famous wizard in ancient times. Sadly, you can't read latin.
Speak to Antioch: "Are you ok?"
A conundrum. The sleeping King – do you wonder if he dreams? I tell you that he does. He cannot wake, though for a moment I thought he wants. ... Will you come with me to seek answers from his servant?
Scarcely waiting for a response, Antioch pushed forward and scoured the buffet table for any items that might be repurposed to perform an occult ritual, such as the kind one might undertake to invoke an eldritch entity to obtain terribly secrets from it, before following the man through the door.
Regarding the question of hierarchy between Azathoth and Nyarlathotep, I've always been of the school that Nyarlathotep is in fact Azathoth's own avatar in the dream.
[6] - You find a black ritual knife between the butter knives. It feels deathly cold in your grip, but at the same time, it burns with emotion. You have a bad feeling about it, but you safely manage to put it away for later use.
Russel
Attempt to remember anything about black man.
Ask the young man with book, what he is currently reading.
Then follow the black man.
[5] - As you see him talking with Mallo, you realize that his face is exactly the same as of that stone tablet you found yesterday. The carving and the mysterious person in the black suit must clearly be the same man. But how...?
No human person should be able to live for so long. It must be a coincidence, right? Right?
Follow the black man. Not much else to do.
[6] - You run after the black man and find him talking with Mallo. You hear him say something about a celebrity before you start to feel sick. Not again!
...You don't vomit. You realize that this disgusting feeling is actually what you had been calling "feeling fine" this whole time.
Everyone follows the man thorugh various hallways until they finally reach an empty room with a couple of comfy seats and a table in the center. You can still hear the sounds of the party, but now you can all talk without shouting.
"You all might be wondering why I have brought you all here. You might have realized that you can't remember anything that happened a couple of hours ago. This is because we are currently in a dream. I made everyone go asleep so that we could talk."
"We are currently located in the center of the cosmos. Or at least, it's dream version in the dreamlands. As some of you already know, my name is Nyarlathotep and I am the ruler of the dreamlands, the place mortals go during their sleep."
"To put it bluntly, I am a God. One of the ruling powers of this reality. A reality, which, is currently in great danger. You may have not noticed, but there was a man asleep at the center of everything."
"His name is Azathoth, and he's waking up. If he stops dreaming we will all die. What I want you to do, is to prevent him from doing that."
"This is why I have brought everyone here. All of you are special, different from common mortals. You can see and understand things, things that would have broken the greatest minds alive."
"Earth is a special thing. One of the lasts planets that has endured the intrusion of the Great Old Ones. Despite their multiple attemps, most humans are unaware of our existence. This has transformed the planet into some sort of "anchor" to the reality they believe so hard that exists. I have been using this power to keep the dream existing. Every time a human denies the thing you know as eldritch,
the dream becomes stringer and Azathoth rests in peace."
"But this isn't 1980. Humans nowdays have slowly converted to the worship of the Great Old Ones, cults have grown in strenght and number, alien beasts run rampant in the dark corners of the planet and otherworldly civilizations have made contact with human groups. Azathoth's dream is being disturbed and every day is harder to keep him dreaming. Whole galaxies dissapear every time he yawns."
"So, this is my offer: You will work for me as my servants and leave your past life behind. You will do as I will and you will obey my orders. In exchange, I will give you immortality, power and knowledge. You will help me destroy the occult influences the gods have corrupted the Earth with and aid me in keeping the dreamer dreaming."Nyarlathotep makes a huge tome appear from nowhere and places it on the table. Names on every language are written on it, all of them in red blood.
He leaves a small, ornamental dagger on the table. It's stained with blood.
"But first, you have to sign the guest book. It's tradition, you see. If you don't want to be part of this, I can delete your memories and send you back to your boring life. But once you sign, there is no way back. You will become my servants."
(Of course, not accepting means you are going in the waitlist.)